Page 598 - The_secret_teachings_of_all_ages_Neat
P. 598

From the world of physical pursuits the initiates of old called their disciples into the life
                   of the mind and the spirit. Throughout the ages, the Mysteries have stood at the threshold
                   of Reality--that hypothetical spot between noumenon and phenomenon, the Substance
                   and the shadow. The gates of the Mysteries stand ever ajar and those who will may pass
                   through into the spacious domicile of spirit. The world of philosophy lies neither to the
                   right nor to the left, neither above nor below. Like a subtle essence permeating all space
                   and all substance, it is everywhere; it penetrates the innermost and the outermost parts of
                   all being. In every man and woman these two spheres are connected by a gate which
                   leads from the not-self and its concerns to the Self and its realizations. In the mystic this
                   gate is the heart, and through spiritualization of his emotions he contacts that more
                   elevated plane which, once felt and known, becomes the sum of the worth-while. In the
                   philosopher, reason is the gate between the outer and the inner worlds, the illumined
                   mind bridging the chasm between the corporeal and the incorporeal. Thus godhood is
                   born within the one who sees, and from the concerns of men he rises to the concerns of
                   gods.


                   In this era of "practical" things men ridicule even the existence of God. They scoff at
                   goodness while they ponder with befuddled minds the phantasmagoria of materiality.
                   They have forgotten the path which leads beyond the stars. The great mystical institutions
                   of antiquity which invited man to enter into his divine inheritance have crumbled, and
                   institutions of human scheming now stand where once the ancient houses of learning rose
                   a mystery of fluted columns and polished marble. The white-robed sages who gave to the
                   world its ideals of culture and beauty have gathered their robes about them and departed
                   from the sight of men. Nevertheless, this little earth is bathed as of old in the sunlight of
                   its Providential Generator. Wide-eyed babes still face the mysteries of physical existence.
                   Men continue to laugh and cry, to love and hate; Some still dream of a nobler world, a
                   fuller life, a more perfect realization. In both the heart and mind of man the gates which
                   lead from mortality to immortality are still ajar. Virtue, love, and idealism are yet the
                   regenerators of humanity. God continues to love and guide the destinies of His creation.
                   The path still winds upward to accomplishment. The soul of man has not been deprived
                   of its wings; they are merely folded under its garment of flesh. Philosophy is ever that
                   magic power which, sundering the vessel of clay, releases the soul from its bondage to
                   habit and perversion. Still as of old, the soul released can spread its wings and soar to the
                   very source of itself.


                   The criers of the Mysteries speak again, bidding all men welcome to the House of Light.
                   The great institution of materiality has failed. The false civilization built by man has
                   turned, and like the monster of Frankenstein, is destroying its creator. Religion wanders
                   aimlessly in the maze of theological speculation. Science batters itself impotently against
                   the barriers of the unknown. Only transcendental philosophy knows the path. Only the
                   illumined reason can carry the understanding part of man upward to the light. Only
                   philosophy can teach man to be born well, to live well, to die well, and in perfect measure
                   be born again. Into this band of the elect--those who have chosen the life of knowledge,
                   of virtue, and of utility--the philosophers of the ages invite YOU.
   593   594   595   596   597   598